Maxime Martin took a BMW Z4 GT3 across the line for its first podium result at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, finishing second in a race affected by rain and fog.

At the end of the race, which was split by a red flag period lasting over nine hours, the #25 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS car of Martin, Yelmer Buurman, Andrea Piccini and Richard Goransson narrowly missed out on what would have been an historic 20th Nurburgring 24 Hours win for BMW.

There was also a second top-ten finish for BMW, with the #20 BMW Z4 GT3 finishing the race in sixth overall, while the third and final finishing BMW came home in 17th. The two remaining works-backed BMWs failed to finish, with accidents forcing them out of the race.

“This Nürburgring 24 Hours was once again packed with excitement – and featured an absolutely sensational final stint from Maxime Martin, who was able to overtake two rivals out on the track in the last few laps,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.

“Our race was initially blighted by the unlucky collision involving the two BMW Team Schubert cars, and then came the weather-inflicted stoppage during the night – and finally the joy at second place for BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS. Over the past 24 hours, the legendary Nordschleife has once again shown us exactly what makes this circuit so special and so infamous.

“I am delighted for Bas Leinders’ team and the four drivers in the number 25 BMW Z4 GT3. Back in 2012, BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS narrowly missed out on a top-three finish in the Green Hell, and now it has its podium. The crew produced a flawless race, as did the drivers, so they really deserve second place.

“The way the number 20 BMW Team Schubert car fought back was also impressive. The team did not allow the huge misfortune at the start of the race to get them down, and battled back superbly to finish sixth. However, I would obviously like to thank all the many privateer BMW teams and the fans at the Ring, who defied the miserable conditions to once again produce a fantastic race and a unique atmosphere.”

Further down the field, there were multiple class victories for privateer run BMWs, taking the total number of BMW class victories at the event to an outstanding 162.

8Star Motorsport spent Tuesday (21st May) testing at Sebring ahead of the Chevrolet Grand-Am 200 at Belle Isle Park in Detroit.

Team owner and driver Enzo Potolicchio took driving duties at the Floridian circuit alongside Michael Valiante and Rafael Matos.

Valiante will substitute full-time 8Star driver Stephane Sarrazin alongside Pedro Lamy while Sarrazin prepares for the next week’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“It was a really good day for 8Star for the amount of improvements we made during our first-ever test,” said Potolicchio.

“Stephane and Pedro had not driven the car before this year so everything we’ve done so far has been during a race weekend which isn’t the ideal situation. I think having Valiante here was definitely a positive because of the feedback he was able to give us from all his DP experience. The car is a lot quicker and lot easier to drive, it’s more connected front to rear. We showed a lot of speed here at Sebring and will have a better car next week at Detroit.”

A wet and foggy Nurburgring 24 Hours provided a tough challenge for the drivers, with the highest Porsche customer car finishing in seventh overall.

The Team Manthey Racing 911 GT3 RSR of Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb and Lucas Luhr also claimed the SP7 class win as well as the top-ten result, while team-mates Jorg Bergmeister, Marco Holzer, Richard Lietz and Nick Tandy came through to finish in eleventh overall.

As the race was halted under a red-flag for the bad weather, the two Manthey machines were running in second and third overall, with drivers having to wait over nine hours for the race to restart.

Three hours after the race had restarted, the second Manthey 911 was called in to the pits to stop for minor transmission repairs, ending any hopes for a result as strong as their class-winning team-mates.

“The 911 GT3 R of our customer teams have shown a very good performance overall. The vehicle of Manthey Racing unfortunately had a small problem with the gearbox and lost almost three laps because of this,” said Porsche Head of Motorsport Hartmut Kristen.

“With the 911 GT3 RSR in the SP7 class, the set-up did not work particularly well in the changeable weather conditions.”

Sam Bird and the Russian Time squad set the early bench mark in Monte Carlo as practice got into full swing but it was Arden International‘s Johnny Cecotto Jr. who got Thursday’s spoils as he claimed pole position for Friday’s race.

Using super soft tyres Bird had a slim 0.057 second advantage over team mate Tom Dillmann setting a 1m21.512s lap as the Russian squad dominated the 26 car grid.

The principality saw the teams generally behave themselves with only one incident of note – Monegasque driver Stéphane Richelmi span at Rascasse and stalled when trying to recover, the DAMS racer would end the session 19th.

The head of the “best of the rest” pack went to Arden’s Mitch Evans who only finished two tenths down on the pace setting time. Carlin’s Jolyon Palmer finished fourth.

Kiwi Evans would see himself edged out again in the afternoons divided qualifying session – finishing second by 0.016 to Venezuelan Cecotto.

The qualifying session had to be split into two sections because of the confines of the Monte Carlo circuit. The odd numbered group A, featuring Cecotto, started their fifteen minute qualifying session first with the even numbered group B cars out afterward. The aim being to cut down on the number of crashes seen in recent years when 26 cars took to the grid at the same time.

With the two time sheets combined – the end result saw early pace setter Bird start third with Fabio Leimer  in the Racing Engineering car start fourth.

Points leader Stefano Coletti will start 14th after a mediocre session with fellow high flyers Felipe Nasr and Robin Frijns will start ninth and tenth respectively.

However, with the number of cars and the tight twisty Monaco circuit it could be that those further up the grid will have a better chance of getting a podium finish.

The first GP2 race will start at 10:15 Friday live on Sky Sports F1HD. A full report will be published on The Checkered Flag as soon as the winner crosses the line.

Mercedes joined the list of manufacturers to win the Nurburgring 24 Hours as the Black Falcon team of Sean Edwards, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Bernd Schneider and Nicki Thiim emerged victorious by very nearly three minutes in race that will go down in history for a nine hour red flag due to heavy rain.

The rain was always forecast, though it missed the start of the race. However, once it arrived it remained and with the return of the fog that had forced the cancellation of much of the support package on the first morning of the meeting there was little organisers could do but bring the race to a halt as conditions deteriorated.

Eventually it was the return of daylight, rather than the cessation of the rain that made a restart possible, with the cars returning to the track for a restart at 8pm, a little over nine hours since the start of the null period.

The restart – initially with a lap behind a safety car (something which does not normally exist in the Nurburging 24 Hours) – was led by Pedro Lamy in the Aston Martin Racing #007 Vantage.

In the first part of the race Lamy and the AMR team – Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Allan Simonsen – had been the surprise package, the British team competing with – and for a time beating – the might of the German manufacturers at the front of the race. Twice the Bilstein blue and yellow car took the lead on pure speed. First Simonsen, then Turner were able to drag past into the lead, passing the #4 Phoenix Racing Audi on both occasions.

The first time the Aston took the lead Turner enjoyed only a single 25km lap on point before making a scheduled pitstop. However, when Turner passed Ferdinand Stuck in the #4 car at the end of the Dottinger Hohe straight it was the beginning of a near full stint in the lead. Having only pitted from the lead two laps earlier the team were among the first to change to wets, returning to pits as much of the field did at the start of the fourth hour.

The advantage of the swift change gave the team an – at that point in the race – unprecedented lead of over half a minute, Stefan Mucke now chased by the pair of Manthey Racing Porsches, the SP7 leading car lead the SP9 entry in the same class as the lead Aston. The lead ebbed away, though not at the speed suggested by the concern shown by Lamy’s post qualifying about the car’s chances in a wet race.

The SP7 car – the #18 of Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb and Lucas Luhr – was arguably primed to take the lead before both they and the Aston ahead pitted, with the red flag coming out a lap later.

While an exceptional decision it was one largely supported by the drivers, Nordschliefe veteran Sabine Schmitz, one of the drivers in the #11 Porsche comparing the conditions around the track to those on a Bering Sea shrimper!

One the restart the complexion of the race had changed almost entirely. Pedro Lamy led the field to the restart but was quickly swallowed up around the Nordschleife as he fell to fifth at the line, his Saturday evening worries realised on Monday morning. He was not alone in his struggles in the conditions that greeted them as both Manthey Porsches also began to fall back from being overall contenders to fighting to remain in the top ten. The SP7 car that had come so near to taking the lead before the red flag would still win its class, having dominated it throughout the race, but would do so ‘down’ in seventh place. A gear selection problem for the SP9 entry for Olaf Manthey’s team would lose them a handful of laps in the garage.

However, for every team that fell away in the light of morning there was another that moved forward, and these were to be the teams that would fight for the victory.

As Lamy went from the lead to fifth, Maxime Martin performed the opposite manoeuvre, leaping from fifth to put the BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS car he shared with Andrea Piccini, Richard Goransson and Yelmer Buurman in the lead for the first time. He was followed to the front by teammate Bas Leinders in the team’s other car, though Leinders would crash out of fourth place at Bergwerk shortly after. His exit was one of a flurry of incidents at the start of the seventeenth hour of the race.

The first few laps after the restart had been incident free, but with a lap Bernd Schneider skated into an area of the turn one gravel trap left largely unexplored since an F1 rookie called Lewis Hamilton was craned back onto the circuit from a similar depth. Like Hamilton multiple DTM champion Schneider, for whom the victory came on his first ever finish in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, was put back on the track by marshals, who the German verbally bequeathed as case of beer to post race.

There were also spins for the #22 ROWE Racing Mercedes, and the #20 BMW Team Schubert car, Dirk Adorf incredibly lucky to escape relatively undamaged from a spin at the crest of the Flugplatz hill. It, and Leinders’ crash, were part of a difficult race for the BMW teams. The tone was set inside the first hour when the two Schubert cars made contact while slowing down through an area governed by yellow flags. Claudia Hurtgen pitted the #20 with a rear puncture, but Uwe Alzen fared less well in the #19, returning to the garage with steering damage that would prove terminal.

There was early – very early – first lap early – drama for Christian Mamerow in the #2 Audi. After starting third he had fallen back on the opening lap before pulling out of the slipstream of a Manthey Porsche to take back a place on the Dottinger Hohe. However, as he pulled out the front splitter on the car broke, almost immediately putting the 2012 runners-up a lap down, a deficit only made worse when the problem recurred on his return to the track.

Mercedes’ chances of victory had also taken damage in the first hour. Between them the ROWE Racing and Black Falcon teams had paced both the qualifying sessions, as well as free practice. However, while their rivals had seemingly found the pace to deal with the Mercedes domination in the build-up the #10 that had topped both the ‘open’ qualifying sessions was facing backwards up the hill at Pflanzgarten with broken rear suspension within the first two hours of the race.

Andreas Simonsen did get the car – at an ever increasing angle of yaw – back to the pits but with it Mercedes’ advantage seemed to have been lost. But while they may have been late to the lead, the #23 ROWE Racing team taking the lead shortly before 10am to put an SLS ahead for the first time, they came to dominate the final six hours of the race.

Martin had given up the lead after a single stint, handing the BMW over to Yelmer Buurman who fell to second place, and over a minute behind Lance David Arnold in the #23 Mercedes but in the changing conditions as showers continued to sprinkle a continually drying track it was the revolving combination of Schneider and Edwards who were the class of the field.

After Schneider’s turn one off a scheduled stop earlier than their rivals had helped push them back up the order, with their alternative strategy helping them to the lead just before noon with every lap in the final five hours being led by a Mercedes. The #9 led the lion’s share with the #23 team picking up the scraps as they and their teammates in the #22 began to close on an all Mercedes podium.

In the end there was only one man who could stop that from happening as the challenges from the #1 G-Drive Racing by Phoenix and the Falken Motorsports Porsche fell apart late on.

That was Maxime Martin.

The Marc VDS team installed the Belgian for a double stint to end the race. He made it up to second place as the pair of ROWE cars completed the own final stops before having to stop himself six laps from the end of the race. Having been comfortably faster than all three of the Mercedes ahead of him in the first half of his stint there was little surprise as he quickly made his way past both ROWE cars on track.

He passed the first of the pair – the #23 after the Mercedes driver had made a mistake in the chicane before Flugplatz with a second pass, into second place coming only a few corners later with a move around the outside of Schwedenkreuz.

With second place secured, but a three minute void between he and Edwards in the lead Martin did all he could to take the battle for the lead to the very end of the 24 hours, pushing the Englishman onto a final racing lap as only the top two completed the 88 laps that made the 2013 race the shortest Nurburgring 24 Hours in the event’s history.

Edwards’ final winning margin was 2:39, Martin having succeeded in taking nearly a minute out of the lead in just the four laps after he passed both Mercedes.

The fight for third place was decided by a penultimate lap pitstop for the #23, leaving the #22 team of Klaus Graf, Thomas Jaeger, Jan Seyffarth and Nico Bastian to complete the podium.

The #1 team finished as the best of the Audi teams in fifth place, with the SP7 Manthey Racing race the best Porsche. The pole sitting Phoenix Racing #4 finished eighth with the #3 G-Drive/Phoenix Audi and the Aston Martin Racing #007 completing the overall top ten.

Among the 20 classes that took part in the race seven class winners ended the race in the top 40 overall, though only the SP9 and SP7 winners were in the top half of that bracket.

The lone Corvette in the race, crewed by Tobias Guttroff, Joachim Kiesch, Volker Strycek and Arno Klasen, won in SP8 beating both the Gazoo Racing Lexus LFA and the GT Corse Ferrari 458, the Ferrari team having been the nearest challengers until falling out of the race.

Audi TTs won both the SP3T and SP4T classes for Raeder Motorsport and Besaplast Racing Team respectively. The partly British crewed Nova Race Ginetta G50 fell to second in the SP10 class in the final laps, losing out to Bonk Motorsport’s #58 BMW.

The final class winner to make it into the top 40 was the best of the works run Peugeot 208 GTI. The team of Christiaan Frankenhout, Vincent Rademecker, Johnny Neiderhauser and Giacomo Ricci led home a 1-2-3 for the fantastic looking cars in 32^nd position overall.

Aston Martin celebrated their centenary with a strong top-ten finish for the Bilstein-liveried V12 Vantage GT3 at the Nurburgring 24 Hours.

The weekend began well for the Aston Martin squad, as Pedro Lamy took the V12 Vantage to the front row of the grid with a time of 8:18.362, just 1.1 seconds off pole position.

Lamy took the overall lead of the race in the second hour, with team-mates Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke also leading in their respective stints before rain and fog brought the red flag out at 10:30pm.

The race was restarted some nine and a half hours later, with rain still creating tricky conditions as the Aston Martin drivers struggled to find grip, losing ground to their closest rivals. A brush with the barrier soon after the restart affected the car’s handling for the remainder of the race, forcing the team to settle for a safe finish, eventually crossing the finish line in tenth position overall.

“Our car performed perfectly on the Michelin slicks,” said Team Manager John Gaw. “In the dry, we recorded some of the very fastest lap times of the race. In the wet we struggled with grip, but this is something we will work on together ahead of next year’s race.”

“Overall this top 10 result is great,” added Turner. “We had front-running pace in the dry, proved by the fact we led most of the first half. We need to go away now and work out how to make the most of the wet tyres but I think we can all be very pleased with our performance this weekend.”

Away from the racing, Aston Martin’s centenary celebrations were highlighted by a parade of over 100 cars on the 25km circuit, lead out by CEO Dr Ulrich Bez in the CC100 Speedster Concept and Sir Stirling Moss in the 1959 1000km of Nurburgring winning DBR1.

United Autosports head to Silverstone for the third round of the British GT Championship with their eyes set firmly on the top spot in the overall championship standings.

Two podiums from two events has placed the #25 Audi R8 LMS of Mark Patterson and Matt Bell in second place in the championship standings, the highest of the three-car United Autosports line up, which also features a brace of McLaren MP4-12Cs.

The previous round of the championship, Rockingham, was a mixed event for United Autosports, with the two McLarens encountering issues that hampered their races.

“We have had a great start to the season with the Audi,” said Team Owner Richard Dean.

“Mark and Matt have been on great form. While the McLaren’s have been fast, we have yet to get onto the podium. Having won the three hour race here at Silverstone last season, I am hopeful we can show strongly in 2013.”

The third round of the British GT season will see 48 cars take to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, with 32 cars contesting the GT3 class.

Nico Rosberg confirmed many people’s suspicion that Mercedes would be the team to beat in Monte Carlo by topping both Thursday practice sessions. The German led teammate Lewis Hamilton in a 1-2 for the Brackley-based squad this afternoon as their single lap performance came to the fore again.

The opening session was a close affair between Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus with Rosberg quickest on a 1:16.195 but as is so often the case in Monaco, the track evolution ensured the times would plummet in an incident packed second session.

Romain Grosjean was among the pacesetters throughout the day but before the Frenchman had an opportunity to demonstrate his ability on the supersoft tyres, he wiped off the front left corner of his Lotus at St Devote after locking up on the way into the turn. The session would be halted by a red flag shortly afterwards but not for the stationary Lotus, but for damage to kerbing at the Swimming Pool which required attention.

Once the circuit was clear, the chase was on to close down Rosberg who had used his option tyres to set a 1:14.759 but only Hamilton in the sister Mercedes could get within four tenths, clocking a 1:15.077 to finish second quickest, a tenth ahead of Fernando Alonso. Felipe Massa followed up his Ferrari teammate in fourth with Mark Webber the leading Red Bull driver in fifth, claiming to be happier with his Thursday running than on his two previous successful Monaco GP weekends.

Kimi Raikkonen was seven tenths off the pace in sixth with Grosjean’s accident in the second Lotus seeing him slip to seventh, just ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button in eighth. Sebastian Vettel wound up an uncompetitive ninth after failing to improve on the supersoft tyres with the two Force Indias close behind him, Paul Di Resta edging out Adrian Sutil for tenth.

Tired of tyres? Resentful towards rubber? Confused over compounds? Sick of slicks? Pissed off with Pirelli? (Allergic to arbitrary alliteration?)

In recent days, Formula 1 has been associated with criticism from the media, millions of tweets from disgruntled fans (and those who recognise a fuss about nothing when they see it), and a lot of bickering between teams.

And why?

Because at the last race there were 82 pit stops! You heard me right! A field of 22 cars made an average of around 3.7 pit stops in a 66-lap race. It was totally outrageous!

It gets worse though: race winner Fernando Alonso needed five sets of tyres to claim his victory!

And Lewis Hamilton moaned over his team radio!

But never fear dear reader, for after one less-than-stellar race, Pirelli has announced that they will re-engineer their tyres, and have different compounds in place by next month. Forget this insist-that-the-teams-rise-to-the-challenge-of-something-different’ malarkey, the sport that attracts some of the greatest engineering minds and thrives on innovation has decided it is all too difficult.

What a relief!

Bernie Ecclestone and Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery have a chat on the grid in Barcelona – Credit: Pirelli

Navel-gazing, infighting, and knee-jerk reactions: Formula 1 excels at these. They are ‘qualities’ have been evident since the Spanish Grand Prix, much to the likely boredom and frustration of all but the major protagonists.

At least this back-this weekend, the sport will be able to showcase some of its other specialities, including speed, danger, glamour and, of course, ostentatiousness. For Round 6 of this 2013 season the F1 circus heads to the streets of Monte Carlo, and the Monaco Grand Prix!

Tyre discussions should, thankfully, be put to one side this weekend, with tyre wear expected to be much less prominent than in Barcelona. Pirelli will bring their two softest tyre compounds, yet many are expecting one-stop strategies to be the most popular choice on Sunday, due to the low-speed nature of the circuit and the resulting lack of degradation.

Instead the focus should be on the usual delights that come with the blue riband event in Monaco. The excitement of watching the drivers thread their cars around the Principality stupidly high speeds as they dice with the Armco barriers, missing them (most of the time), by millimetres; the beautiful sight of cars streaking alongside the harbour; the immense history that comes with an event that was first run in 1929.

The Monaco Grand Prix is regarded as the race that only the greatest drivers seem to win. Of the last 30 races, a world champion has won all but five.

It is also telling that some of the true legends of the sport – Graham Hill, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna, have made Monaco their personal fiefdom.

Of the current batch of drivers, both Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso have two Monaco victories to their name, whilst Vettel, Button, Hamilton and Raikkonen have all won once. Red Bull will be looking for their fourth consecutive victory in Monaco this weekend, whilst Ferrari last won this race in 2001. McLaren are the most successful constructor at Monte Carlo with 15 wins.

Webber, pictured here in the famous Monaco tunnel, was the winner of last year’s race – Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Based on current form, Vettel, Alonso and perhaps Raikkonen look the most likely to win on Sunday. These three are separated by just thirteen points at the top of the drivers’ championship, and are quickly edging ahead of the rest of the pack.

Having said that, Hamilton will be right back in contention if he can win in Monaco. There is nothing wrong with the Mercedes qualifying pace, as both he and teammate Nico Rosberg demonstrated in Barcelona. They just need to avoid slipping back through the field during the race, which is less likely to happen in Monaco given that nobody can overtake and those dreaded tyres are unlikely to be such a factor.

However, in addition to its Grand Prix, Monaco is also famous for casinos and gambling. This is apt considering the weather could (to paraphrase Martin Brundle) throw a double six this weekend. A well-timed shower on race day could throw the event wide open, and a surprise winner could emerge, just as it did in 1996 when Olivier Panis took one of F1’s most unlikely victories.

So savour Monaco and all its idiosyncrasies this weekend. Marvel at the racing, the immense amount of skill the driver needs just to make it round the circuit without knocking bits of his car, and while you watch television, reaffirm that pledge to yourself that ‘one year’ you will be sitting in the grandstands at this most iconic event.

And then at the next race, in Canada, we can go back to talking about tyres…

FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2013
Timetable (All times BST)
Thursday 23rd May
Free Practice 1	09:00
Free Practice 2	13:00
Saturday 25th May
Free Practice 3	10:00
Qualifying	13:00
Sunday 26th May
Race	13:00
Coverage (UK)
Live: Sky Sports F1 HD, Highlights: BBC One, Radio: BBC Radio 5 Live / 5 Live Sports Extra

The 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans will be started by Grand-Am Road Racing founder Jim France, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest has announced.

The 68-year-old, who is also NASCAR vice-chairman, will give the signal to start the twice round the clock race as American sports car racing heads in to a new phase of expansion from 2014 after unveiling in April 2013 that the American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am Series would merge under the ACO banner as United SportsCar Racing.

The appointment of France marks the first time in the event’s 90 year history that the start of the race will have been given by two members of the same family, after brother Bill France, Jr. dropped the flag to start the race in 1976.

“I will be waving the flag to start next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans on behalf of the entire North American sports car community,” said France.

“It demonstrates the universal interest in the consolidation of America’s two leading road racing organizations. The world-wide racing community is already anticipating the debut of United SportsCar Racing at the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona, with its close association to the ACO and link to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”

France will be handed the French flag symbolically from ALMS founder, Don Panoz, in the presence of the President of the ACO, Pierre Fillon.

“We are particularly honored that Jim France has accepted to give the start to the Le Mans 24 Hours in this very symbolic year, in which we’re celebrating the 90th anniversary of the greatest endurance race in the world,” added ACO President Pierre Fillon.

“It proves just how close are the links between the club that created endurance racing and the authorities of North American motor sports.”

“On a personal note,” concluded France. “It’s gratifying to serve in a role that my brother Bill performed in 1976. My dad Bill Sr. [NASCAR founder] always appreciated the international appeal of sports car racing, which he felt was epitomized in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”

The Caterham team are confident they can remain ahead of Marussia at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend.

Charles Pic managed to get the better of Jules Bianchi at Barcelona last time out and is confident that he can do so again on the streets of Monaco.

“Monaco is a great race and a track I’ve won on before in Formula Renault 3.5 and in GP2. It’s one of the two city street circuit races and there’s a lot of history there. I think for every driver and fan it’s one of the best races of the year. It’s not an easy race because you can’t make any mistakes at all during the weekend, but it’s also why we love it and why Monaco is so special.”

“For the car it’s completely different than almost any other track, so we are running with a different setup there to optimise the mechanical grip. It’s always fun on track, but it’s busy for the drivers and as it’s right next to France there are a lot of French fans and I’m sure it will be good entertainment for them and everyone who goes. We don’t have a race in France at the moment so Monaco’s the nearest place to see F1 for all the French fans who really do love our sport.”

“It’s true that Monaco, like Singapore is really tough. You can hope that it can be a good chance for you to finish in a good position, but with such a tight circuit and so many chances for something to happen it’s something we can’t control so we have to be focused on optimising the car, extracting 100 per cent for qualifying and then focusing on the race. We’ll have to make sure we go the right way on tyre choice and strategy, and then we’ll see. We’ve definitely been improving over the last couple of races, so the aim is to carry that through to Monaco,” he added.

Giedo van der Garde is looking to put the disappointments of Barcelona behind him on his first visit to Monaco as an F1 driver. The Dutchman qualified the best of the “new” teams last time out, but was forced to retire early after his car lost a wheel.

“Monaco is one of my favourite races of the year. For me the track is very special, it holds a lot of great memories as over the last few years I’ve been on the podium every time I’ve raced there. It’s a pretty mad weekend, with a lot of guests and fans everywhere, closer than you see anywhere else in the season, but once you’re in the car it’s very important to have a good flow or you’ll lose time and increase the chance of making a mistake.”

“It takes a few laps for the car to really to come in and of course for me this year it will be another new experience with the F1 car, but I’ll get the flow back quickly and I have a good team around me so everything should go well.”

“Monaco’s also a place where the smaller teams, like us, can do something special. It’s a shorter lap than many of the other tracks we race on, and everyone has to run as much downforce as possible, so outright speed isn’t the key. You need good traction to really attack the exits of the corners, and the package we introduced in Spain had exactly that, so what we want to do is build on the progress we made in Spain, show a bit more of our potential, and with a bit of luck we can come close to the top 10,” he concluded.

Sahara Force India is looking to add to their points tally at Monaco this weekend after a strong opening to the season. Paul di Resta narrowly missed out on his first podium at Bahrain, and added to that with another good points finish last time out at Barcelona. The Scottish driver is now confident of another strong result.

“It’s really interesting to see how busy the place gets when the race is in town and the atmosphere builds up throughout the week. Racing close to home is really nice because I can go back to my place every night. I sleep in my bed and enjoy my own space. It’s also a chance for my family and friends to come and stay with me, and when the weather is nice, there’s nowhere better,” he said.

“McLaren is a strong team and they will keep improving, but in the races so far we have been fighting them and we’ve often been quicker. Realistically, though, we are doing a great job regularly beating our direct rivals – Sauber, Williams and Toro Rosso. Our strength has been our consistency – we have been performing well in each of the races so far, and we are now looking forward to the Sunday with confidence.”

Team mate Adrian Sutil has not had such a good time of it in recent races, but is hoping for an improvement in form this weekend.

“Despite everything that has happened during the last four races, I remain positive. Most of the things that happened were out of my control, but still I believe we can improve certain things to avoid mistakes in the future. We as a team have to stay confident and work on solving these small problems. The car is fast and if we have a perfect weekend, which is our aim all the time, I’m sure the podium will come soon.”

“The VJM06 is definitely the best car I have ever driven. Wherever we have gone so far the car has looked competitive – and that includes some very different tracks. It’s a good sign for the rest of the season. Of course, Monaco will be the first real street circuit, but I think we will be quick there. The car is very strong in the front with a very neutral balance so it’s very driveable.”

“Monaco is a special place for sure. I’ve always liked street races and Monaco is the best street circuit of them all. There’s no room for even the smallest mistake and that’s why it’s different to other tracks. You have to give the walls so much respect and build up your speed. More than anything it’s a test of your mental strength because you keep your concentration for nearly two hours during the race,” he concluded.

Red Bull Racing is aiming to return to the top step of the podium at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix after a disappointing performance in Barcelona.

The team has seen its drivers win on the street circuit for the past three years, with Mark Webber taking victory in 2010 and 2012, and Sebastian Vettel emerging victorious in 2011.

“Monaco is one of my favourite tracks and driving it is an absolute challenge. You can’t make the smallest mistake; if you do, you’re lucky if it’s just that your lap time is bad. If you’re not paying attention, you’ll end up in the barrier. Overtaking is possible, but only with risk – the best place for that is before the chicane,” Vettel, who has won twice already this season, said.

We come out of the narrow tunnel at more than 300kph and race to the first fear-chicane – whoever brakes later wins. Ideally you have a good qualifying session and start from far forward.”

Mark Webber meanwhile is looking to get his season back on track after several disappointing races for the Australian.

“My best memory of the Monaco Grand Prix is definitely my first win there in 2010,” he said. “It’s right up there with my best memories of all time.”

Sauber is looking it put the disappointments of recent races behind it at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend.

The Swiss team have so far struggled in the opening rounds of the 2013 season, with Nico Hulkenberg having only scored five points. It has also been a baptism of fire for Hulkenberg’s rookie team mate, Esteban Gutierrez, who enjoyed his best performance to date at the Spanish Grand Prix.

“I’m really looking forward to the Monaco Grand Prix. The circuit along with the backdrop of the principality are just fantastic, and the atmosphere is one of the best in the season. The track is one of a kind with extremely narrow streets that will punish every little mistake. This is a great challenge between me, the car and the track, and I always have a lot of fun driving there. In terms of performance, I’m quite positive. We’ve seen that the softer tyre compounds suit us quite well, which gives me confidence we’ll have a good weekend,” Hulkenberg said.

Gutierrez just missed out on points at Barcelona, and is looking to finish inside the top ten this weekend at Monaco.

“Driving on the limit through the narrow streets of Monaco is something special that I am really looking forward to. It’s one of my favourite tracks. I’ve driven there in GP2 twice and competing there in a Formula One car will be even more challenging and interesting. It’s a high down force track with a lot of slow corners, and management of the rear tyres will be crucial. After the positive race in Barcelona, I am focusing on building on my performance there,” he said.

Williams are aiming to score their first points of the 2013 season at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend. It has been a disappointing start to the year for Williams, with neither last year’s Spanish Grand Prix winner, Pastor Maldonado, nor Valtteri Bottas having secured a point. Both drivers have high hopes coming into this weekend however.

“I have always been very competitive at Monaco, doing well there in GP2, so I always look forward to this race as I feel very comfortable driving the circuit. You can also feel the history of Formula One as you drive through the streets and tackle some of the really famous corners. Monaco is a very difficult challenge, both mentally and physically, as you have to try and find the limits of the car with no margin for error if you push too hard,” Maldonado said.

“Qualifying will be very important at this race and is probably 70% of the weekend because overtaking is so difficult and risky. Tyre strategy and tyre management is important as you always use the softer compound of tyres in Monaco and they are very sensitive this year. We are working hard at the factory to see where we can make improvements and hopefully we can continue improving the set-up of the FW35 and have a better result this weekend.”

Finnish rookie Bottas is predicting a tough time on his first visit to Monaco.

“This will be my first time racing in Monaco and I’m really looking forward to it because it’s such an iconic track. It’s definitely the most challenging race on the calendar for the drivers, being an old school street circuit with no room for mistakes and I’m looking forward to the challenge of being on the limit at all times while being so close to the walls.”

“In the past tyre wear in Monaco has been quite minimal, but with Pirelli bringing the softs and supersofts to this race the tyre degradation may be more of a factor, although less than we saw in Bahrain and Barcelona. It’s very challenging to get the car right at Monaco as it’s very different to all other circuits. There is a lot of undulation, so you need a good car set up to keep all the wheels on the ground around the whole circuit. It’s also quite bumpy which affects the ride height of the car,” he said.

The Mercedes AMG Petronas team is hoping for a change in fortunes at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, as they aim for their first victory of the 2013 season.

The German manufacturer has enjoyed strong performance in qualifying recently, with Nico Rosberg making it three poles in three races for the team at Barcelona. However, both Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton have struggled with race pace recently.

With overtaking being difficult at Monaco, both drivers are hoping for a strong weekend on a track they both enjoy.

Last year’s runner up, Nico Rosberg, said: “Monaco is always a fantastic weekend and it’s great to race in the city where I live. Knowing that all my family and friends are watching makes it very special and I love being able to drive from home into the paddock on a scooter! The surroundings definitely make Monaco the coolest track on the calendar and the atmosphere over the weekend is great.”

“I have good memories from the race last year after finishing in second place and I hope we can get another good result this time around. At the moment we have a good car for qualifying which helps in Monaco as it’s the most important qualifying session of the year as track position is so important. So that might be helpful for us but there are so many unknowns, especially with the tyres, so we will just have to wait and see,” he added.

Meanwhile, the 2008 winner, Lewis Hamilton was equally positive.

“Whilst there hasn’t been a lot of time since Barcelona, we’ve been working hard to put the disappointment of the last race behind us and focus on the opportunities ahead. Monaco is one of my favourite races of the year and I love driving the streets there. As a driver, you know that you have to perform on every single lap and it’s a challenge that I really enjoy,” he said

“It’s a real experience to see the barriers flashing past at high speed and I love the fact that the fans can get so close to the track making for a great atmosphere. Perhaps more than at many other tracks, qualifying and getting the best possible track position is crucial in Monaco, but we have to keep our focus on Sunday as well and keep working to improve our race pace. Everyone is working really hard and I know we can get there. We just need to keep motivated and work it out together.”

Firstly, thanks very much for taking a look at my blog on The Checkered Flag. I won’t lie, I have been very slack at getting my blogs over so far this year, so here come three for the price of one! But don’t worry, I’ll keep it all fairly brief – don’t want to bore you too much!

I’ll start at the very beginning, where all good blogs start – Brands Hatch Indy! It was so good to be able to go into a new season and the first round already knowing I had the money to race and not needing to worry too much about damage. That really took the pressure off and allowed me to properly push. Friday testing was ok; I had a driveshaft failure in the first session but came back in FP2 to top the timesheets, which was a real boost.

I qualified down in seventh, however, after we made a few changes that didn’t pay off. That was a real shame as around the Indy Circuit it’s very hard to overtake, but nevertheless, we cracked on. Finishing fifth in race one and fourth in race two meant I was lucky enough to draw pole position for the reverse-grid final race. I got a good start and controlled proceedings from the front, leading from lights-to-flag to cap an encouraging first weekend.

I was really looking forward to round two at Donington Park after our success at Brands, and a positive test day meant we were full of confidence going into Saturday’s qualifying. I put my car P2 on the grid behind Carl Breeze, but again we needed to make some changes before the races as we knew there was more pace to be found.

Breeze’s Rear Bumper Was A Regular Sight At Donington – Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

As much as I’d love to tell you what an action-packed race I had in the first one, frankly I’d be talking rubbish! It was spent almost entirely underneath Carl’s rear wing waiting for a mistake or trying to force him into one – but with your race one result determining your starting spot for race two in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup, you have to ensure you make it to the chequered flag in a strong position, so there was no point in risking anything half-hearted. Told you it was boring! Anyway, race two from second on the grid turned out to be another procession, sorry to report; I did have a little look down Carl’s inside into Redgate, but the door was slammed firmly shut in my face!

Race three, now this was better! Starting from fifth, I noticed on the grid that there was no Carl alongside me. It transpired that he’d suffered a driveshaft failure on the formation lap, which meant I needed to really capitalise upon his misfortune and grab some strong points. On the opening lap, though, I found myself pushed onto the grass on the approach to the Craner Curves, costing me my momentum and dropping me to seventh.

With a mountain to climb, it was time to fight back, and after picking the others off one-by-one, I had recovered to third by the beginning of the final lap – right up behind Matt Nicoll-Jones. I got a brilliant run out of Redgate Corner and went to his right, which put me on the outside line for the Craner Curves, but I kept my foot planted and moved up to second. I was pleased with that, and it gave me a hat-trick of runner-up finishes as well as the championship lead. Mint!

One more to go – Thruxton.

With our ‘Friday test’ in actual fact taking place a few weeks prior to the meeting, we were straight into qualifying, when very difficult conditions saw us changing tyres several times and I ended up second – importantly, ahead of Carl.

I got an average start in race one and found myself boxed in at the Complex, frustratingly seeing cars just drive around my outside. I ended the opening lap down in fifth – and requiring yet another comeback charge! Worse still, a safety car due to James Birch’s monster shunt meant I had my work properly cut out. Five whole laps went by before the safety car returned to the pits, leaving only a handful of minutes remaining to actually race, so I knew I had to pull off some moves!

Consistent Podium Finishing Has Given Ingram The Championship Lead – Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Fortunately, they both came to me at Church – one on the inside on Matt Nicoll-Jones, the other on Fergus Walkinshaw but around the outside! That was scary! That lifted me into third, which was where I finished. I got a middling start again in race two, as Nicoll-Jones came past but then made contact with Andrew Watson going into Cobb, sending Watson spinning and handing me back third. A few laps later, I found a way around Nicoll-Jones on the outside going into Cobb, giving me the inside line for Seagrave. By this point, however, Carl Breeze had established a big lead so I made the call to back off and save my tyres for Sunday’s race.

As at Donington, the reverse grid for race three placed me fifth. Off the start, Carl leapfrogged not only me but a few other drivers, too, elevating him to second by the time he exited the Complex. I wasn’t overly worried, though, as I knew we had a secret weapon up our sleeve. We had saved two tyres from the first two races which meant we had fresher rubber down the left-hand side of the car, and I knew we would only get stronger as Carl’s pace tailed off. That meant I could take my time getting past the other guys without having to really force the issue.

That’s what I did, carefully threading my way up into second, and once I was clear of the pack, I could see I was closing on Carl pretty rapidly. As soon as I caught him, though, that’s when the hard work really began – finding a way past! I was much quicker through the Complex and decided I would try my luck around the outside of Campbell – putting me on the inside for Cobb – and that’s exactly what I succeeded in doing. With two laps left, I pulled the move off and then just had to bring it home. Everyone on the pit wall was going mad! I said afterwards it was my best win, because I really had to fight for it!

So there you go – hope that’s brought you all up-to-speed, and thanks once more for reading. I owe a huge ‘thank you’ as ever to all my boys at JHR Developments and my sponsors KX, SKYCIG and Hansford Sensors – not to mention you guys, of course, for keeping up the support! Don’t forget you can follow everything that’s happening with me on Twitter @TomIngram80 and at my website www.tom-ingram.com

I’ll catch up with you again soon…

‘Tingram’

At Brands Hatch, Audi Sport’s Head of Vehicle Design, Stefan Aicher explained to the media in attendance about the construction of an integral part for the driver to compete at the highest level in the DTM – the race seat.

The race seat in question that was talked about belongs to one Filipe Albuquerque, who is currently racing for Team Rosberg in the Audi Financial Services RS 5 DTM this season, alongside Edoardo Mortara, with the Portguese driver looking for his first DTM victory in 2013.

It is an intense and laborious process, as Aicher explained to theCheckeredFlag.co.uk, saying that the materials are relatively inexpensive, as well as the seat weighing only 2 kilograms in total.

“The driver comes to have their fitting, which is quite easy to do, as there is a lot of room for the foam itself. The seats are quite similar, and it takes into consideration the shape of the driver from their hips to their legs. It also depends on the driving position the driver has, whether they are sitting straight on or slightly to the left.

“The way we do it is that the driver comes for the fitting and we have a relatively simple seat to see how it works out. We either use a poly-urethane support or a big plastic bag with small marbles in it to see how the shape works out.”

Aicher went on to explain about the fact that the driver then has to stay still for approximately 30 to 45 minutes, and they have to make sure that that the seat is not compromised in any way. This means the driver would have to have their feet on the pedals and their hands on the steering wheel for the duration.

He also went onto mention that the drivers are kept hydrated in the hot temperatures in the cockpit, as they will be sweating profusely throughout the process, due to the fact the seat form material will increase in temperature in its initial formation.

The seat is then extracted and then any excess material that is not needed is cut away, before the next fitting, where the driver is using the full range of movement to ensure that clearance on the arms is there to not comprise their driving during practice, qualifying and the race itself.

After this, the engineers set about making the mechanical parts that will house the seat belts, as well as a specially built carbon tube that feeds air into the back of the seat itself, where fresh air is then fed in to the back of the driver, to help keep temperatures in the compact area down where the driver sits.

We then asked how long it actually takes from start to finish for the build of this very important part of the cockpit to be built, which Aicher was more than happy to explain: “We need 2 to 3 hours in Ingolstadt to make the proper test seat itself, before moving on to testing itself. You need to start the process from a static point in the workshop, before the driver is experiencing all the bumps and forces that come with driving the car, where the true clearance that is required becomes noticeable on the track. 

“The engineers go to the track as well, where fine tuning of the seat itself takes place, with the seat maybe needing less or more material in certain areas. It is an ongoing process, where a full day’s testing helps to finalize the proper configuration of the seat itself for the driver.” 

He then went on to explain that it takes approximately 3 to 4 hours for this process to take place, otherwise the driver will not feel fully comfortable in the car. Some of the younger drivers will spend, according to Aicher, about one hour, and will then find that they have ongoing issues with making the seat as perfect as possible as the season progresses.

Mattias Ekstrom is mentioned by the Head of Vehicle Design as a very dedicated individual when it comes to his seat, saying that the Swedish 2-time DTM Champion will spend all night in the factory to get it just right, as well as British driver Jamie Green, with both drivers really understanding the fact that the seat is an important facet of their driving.

Making the race seat is truly an engineering work of art, as the tolerances that the driver feels can be changed according to how it feels in such a bespoke vehicle, with millimeters of material being changed here or there at any time at the driver’s request. There is a major change when it comes to endurance racing, such as at Le Mans, where compromises have to be made, with drivers opting to have inlays on their racing suits to make comfort a major priority, when it comes to three drivers sharing the same car over 24 hours.

Every seat itself is constructed again at the beginning of every season, and is digitally scanned into a CAD program, so that way if a driver’s car suffers major damage, such as Adrien Tambay’s car catching fire just four laps into the season opener at Hockenheim, the seats can be reproduced exactly to the same specification.

This just is one of the many bespoke components that makes up the 1100 kilograms of one Audi RS 5 DTM, where Ingolstadt’s drivers look to carry on their good form going into the next round of the series, which will be held at the Red Bull Ring in just under two weeks’ time, where Mortara will look to repeat his dominance in the Tirol as in 2012….

In truly dreadful conditions The British Rallycross Championship headed north of the boarder to Knockhill.

The weather as the day progressed just got worse and worse making vizibility virtually zero and making the circuit extremely slippery particularly the entrance into the loose section which caught more than one driver out during the course of the day.

The Super car final saw Julian Godfrey sitting in pole with Andy Scott and Andy Grant making up rest of the front row.

Scott got the best start off the line and headed into the sweeping first corner ahead of the rest of the field. Steve Harris making a great start coming from the second row of the grid and pushing hard behind him, unfortunately for Harris he ran wide and let the rest of the field through. At the end of the first lap Andy Scott led from Julian Godfrey, Andy Grant and Pat Doran.

Round two winner Mad Mark Watson stopped on the loose section on the first lap putting an early end to a fairly dismal day for him as his wipers had broken putting his vizibility pretty much at zero. He was also experiencing clutch problems.

For the next three laps it was a race of tactical joker laps Andy Grant took his joker on the first lap putting him down to forth place. Julian Godfrey then decided the time was right and took his joker on his second lap which put Doran into second place. Andy Scott then followed on lap three.

With Doran just leading into the last lap ahead of a very close Andy Scott and Julian Godfrey. Doran had no option but to take his joker on the final lap but hadn’t enough of a lead to hang onto the top spot. Which let both Scott and Godfrey though to claim first and second respectively.

Scott had looked very comfortable all day on his home track and was a popular winner however with Scott not completing in the championship it meant that second place Godfrey left Scotland with top championship points and still leading the championship a good days work for him.

In the Super National class with the absence of the championship second and third placed drivers Stuart Emery and Paul Wakeling there was always the possibility for big changes. Current championship leader Ashley Simpson was looking to make it three in a row, but unfortunately for him Malcom Boyd put in a near faultless drive in the final and saw him claim the top spot, Simpson in second  and Gary Simpson claiming third.

Mark Scott did however make it three in a row in the RX150 with Jake Harris and Brett Harris claiming second and third. Paige Bellerby made her debut and picked up a very well deserved forth place, even after a dramatic roll on the loose section.

Paige Bellerby wasn’t the only Bellerby making her debut sister Drew Bellerby was also making her Suzuki Swift Junior debut claiming third behind Charlie Bean who made first placed Kenvin Hansen work hard for the top spot.

The Suzuki Swift provided the usual door to door, bumper to bumper racing infact all seven cars in the final rounded the first corner all touching each other! Graham Rodemark seemed to be on for first place but yet another tactical joker saw Chris Mullen claim the top spot with Rodemark in second and Tristan Ovenden in third. Quite unbelievably during the tense finish Steve ‘Bagsy’ Biagioni managed to roll on the loose section and almost went unnoticed!

Tony Lynch claimed his first win in the BMW Minis after some extremely close racing with second placed Kris Hudson and brother Keifer Hudson in third.

The well fought Hot hatch class saw Craig Lomax dominant throughout the heats and unsurprisingly take first position with John Lynne second and Slawomir Woloch in third

The 2013 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series grid continues to become more crowded as the opening round approaches this weekend, Felix Serralles making his return as Fortec Motorsport announce a three-car attack on the series.

Serralles – who finished third in the British F3 championship last year - will return to have another crack at the title which he was pipped to at Donington Park last year by Jack Harvey, the Puerto-Rican race winner joined by Brazilian Felipe Guimaraes and former race winner Will Buller at the Fortec squad for the four-event championship that begins at Silverstone this weekend (May 25/26).

19-year-old Serralles already has success as his agenda after picking up four race victories during the 2012 season, saying : “It’s going to be good to come back to do the British series and be back on Cooper Tires, I think the extra miles are certainly going to help me with the Euro F3.

“We definitely had a good car at Silverstone last year, I really like the circuit and after some good results there I’m really looking forward to the race and will be aiming for the top step of the podium.”

Brazilian driver Guimaraes has vast experience in single-seater racing, having competed in A1 Grand Prix, GP3, the American Indy Lights champonship and the Formula 3 Sudamericana championship, his most recent success coming in the Brazilian F3 Open this year.

Glad to be returing to the British championship, Fortec Team Owner Richard Dutton said: “We would have liked to be running four cars but we don’t have enough engines however the two we are running (prior to Buller’s later addition) I feel very positive about It’s great to be able to support the British series, it’s really starting to grown again which is good news.”

Buller, who previously has raced with Fortec in Formula BMW Europe and Formula Renault’s 2008 Winter Series, has since become the latest of Dutton’s drivers to enter the British F3 campaign for 2013, the 2011 race winner having currently been participating with T-Sport in the European F3 Open series.

Fortec will bolster the grid to a possible 17-car entry list for the opening round of the revised championship at Silverstone this weekend, with Brit Cameron Twynham also set to join the fold having so far this season raced a Team West-Tec-prepared Dallara F308 in the European F3 Open series.